Human trafficking, forced labor and safety last: working for Wood on Kuwait Oil Company projects - GIS Specialist Wood Employee Review

1.0
18 Oct 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They have plenty of work on projects, there is no fight for getting billable hours.

Cons

You should be aware that a company they have just merged with, Amec Foster Wheeler, had serious issues with safety violations and forced labour by sub contractors on projects and its client, Kuwait Oil Company. Wood staff did not stand up to these people and either let the violations continue (see below list for further detail) or did not have proper policies in place to stop such things occurring. If you receive a job offer from Wood, by all means take it but record every safety and human trafficking/forced labour issue you see and report it to their ethics help line, your embassy and embassies representing affected staff. Do not be afraid. Treat this as a study. You will see many people there, including safety staff, who are afraid to speak up and were hugely admiring of me when I did so, part of which involved resigning. In summary: 1. A man was fired by a subcontractor for calling an ambulance in response to H2S gas poisoning. No one stood up for him amongst subcontractor (NBTC), contractor (Petrofac), project management consultancy (Wood) or client (Kuwait Oil Company). 2. North Korean workers were found on two worksites managed by this company. 3. A man hung himself at site, yet the site was not shut down until his body was removed. Some people could see the body whilst they worked. 4. A road fatality on a road built for a site, involving a trip in a work vehicle to pick someone up at a gate built for the project, was declared as being not work related. 5. A man's leg broke after a cabinet fell on it at work. It was declared as not being a lost time incident by the client, Wood staff did not stand up to the client. 6. G4S security contractors at Wood Al Tameer Annexe office have had their passports confiscated by G4S. This is forced labour. No one at Wood stood up for them. 7. Catering staff at the same office have also had their passports confiscated by the contractor they work for. Also forced labour. No one at Wood stood up for them. It is clear to me that a job opportunity with this company in Kuwait offers you also an opportunity to see how this company, its client and the contractors it manages function from the inside. Use the opportunity to do good. Stand up for what is right, be a moral leader. If you do not, you will start to find you are losing your sense of dignity. It's a hard job, but it offers great rewards if you can cause progress. One of my wins was to stop them issuing racist staff IDs which had an E or W on the end based on if the employee was a westerner or easterner. This is because the law of Kuwait discriminates based on nationality, so Wood HR was making it easier for them to manage staff in accordance with these racist laws based on nationality by putting an E or W on the end of their IDs. Everyone at work was literally walking around with these IDs, and the small letter at the end of each... I made a case for it to end, and eventually they said they would change the IDs. You will earn a lot of money working in this place but there are far higher rewards as well if you stay strong, true and ethical. When you can't do that anymore, know there are many other jobs in the world and the region. Move on, don't get consumed, no one there deserves it.

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3 Apr 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

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Cons

Work life balance/ management communication.

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20 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

lots of potential for extra hours good people

Cons

limited support from executive management

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